ANALYSIS: Putting children first

WE AT Epic, the only independent organisation in Ireland working on behalf of children in care and those who have left the care system, strongly support the proposed Children First Bill which will place a mandatory obligation on professionals to report any suspected child abuse and welfare concerns.

The legislation will be guided by the revised Children First national guidance for the protection and welfare of children, published in 2011. While there is a clear need to put these guidelines on a statutory footing (due to the lack of the full execution of these guidelines over the past 14 years), the proposed legislation must be carefully drafted to ensure it can be successfully implemented when enacted.

The proposed bill places a responsibility on professionals to report any child abuse or welfare issues that emerge. The Children First guidance highlights that even a “potential risk” to a child should be reported to the HSE child and family support services. This approach allows for earlier detection of child welfare concerns, which has a two-fold benefit.

Supports and services can be put in place at an early stage, thus preventing an escalation of problems which could result in more serious child protection concerns later. It can also indicate that there are more serious underlying child protection concerns which need immediate action, thus providing protection and safeguards to a vulnerable child.

However, there are legitimate concerns that the use of mandatory reporting will result in an increase in reporting. A comparison study in carried out in Australia of the reporting statistics between New South Wales, which had mandatory reporting legislation, and Western Australia, which did not, found that the number of unsubstantiated reports made was much greater in New South Wales — 7,626 compared to 1,196.

However, this may have more to do with the response rather than the reports, where there are different thresholds for substantiation of abuse. Mandatory reporting has been widely accepted in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

While the research indicates that legislation for mandatory reporting has resulted in significant increases in cases being reported, more substantiated cases of abuse have come to light as a result.

Given the difficulties that currently exist in the HSE child protection services, any potential increase in the number of cases reported are a serious concern.

In 2012, the HSE reported that it had received over 30,000 reports of child protection and welfare concerns.

Of these, over 16,000 were deemed as needing further assessment to be completed within 21 days. Yet only 20% of these met the required target.

The HSE has a statutory obligation to ensure that every child in care has a care plan. Yet in 2012 over 13% of children, about 785, had no care plan.

Of the 6,332 children in care, more than 500 (8.1%) were without an allocated social worker.

Children First legislation will only be effective if it can be practically implemented.

Therefore it is imperative that any legislation introduced must take cognisance of the challenges of implementation set against the backdrop of limited financial resources and the current deficits in the existing child protection system.

There are a number of factors that must be in place in order to ensure that mandatory reporting will work effectively and will not result in a system which will be unable to function due to the additional stresses which significant increases in reporting would cause.

These include clear legislation and regulations with well-defined guidelines on reporting thresholds and adequate resourcing in order to ensure that there is:

* Recruitment and training of additional social workers to undertake screening and assessment of cases;

* Support structures such as IT and information systems in place;

* Comprehensive training for frontline staff within the statutory and other organisations working with children;

* Support, information, and training for designated persons with responsibility for reporting child welfare and protection concerns;

* A comprehensive public education, awareness raising, and communications campaign;

* Implementation of an efficient system of intake, screening, and assessment of reported cases.

Epic believes placing Children First guidance on a statutory footing will send a clear message that society will no longer tolerate child abuse, will facilitate increased prevention of child abuse and neglect, and ensure that it is every child’s right to be protected from abuse and violence.

* Jennifer Gargan is the director of Epic, the only independent organisation in Ireland working on behalf of children in care and those who have left the care system. Epic provides direct advocacy, support, advice, and information to individual children and young people with care experience. Epic speaks out on behalf of these children and young people to enable them to have their voices heard, to ensure their concerns are addressed at an individual level, and that policy and practice changes are made to improve the care system. Website: epiconline.ie Email: [e-mail] Telephone: [phone]